California SB 615 (Vehicle Traction Batteries):
After having been introduced in the California State Senate in February 2023, California Senate Bill 615 (SB 615) recently passed the Legislature and is awaiting a decision by Governor Newsom. SB 615 is the most significant piece of legislation governing the entire lifecycle of vehicle traction batteries. SB 615 was drafted and introduced as a bill after California’s Lithium-ion Car Battery Recycling Advisory Group issued its final report and policy recommendations in 2022. While not an appointed member of the Advisory Group, ARA was able to represent the automotive recycling industry throughout the three years that the group held meetings. In 2020, ARA was invited to give a presentation to the Advisory Group and ARA was asked to provide substantial feedback to the Advisory Group, which was incorporated into the Advisory Group’s final report. The work done by ARA with the Advisory Group had a strong impact on ARA’s ability to represent the industry during the development of SB 615.
SB 615 will serve as a basis for additional policymaking dealing with vehicle traction batteries in the future. Throughout the two years SB 615 was working its way through the California Legislature, ARA and CADRA worked with Senator Allen’s staff on finetuning the language to protect the ability for automotive recyclers to put vehicle traction batteries to their highest and best use. Provisions that ultimately were included in the final bill were as follows:
1) Inclusion of Battery Materials Use Hierarchy that prioritizes the reuse, repair, repurposing, and remanufacture of batteries (in that order) prior to the battery needing to be recycled;
2) Allows automotive recyclers to maintain existing business practices and engage in commerce in batteries without being classified as a battery supplier;
3) Obligates battery suppliers to make battery state of health data easily accessible to automotive recyclers and second life companies (both while the battery is inside the vehicle or outside the vehicle);
4) Requires battery suppliers to cover the costs associated with collecting and processing negative value batteries;
5) Includes recordkeeping requirements on battery transactions;
6) Defines qualified battery recycling facilities in a way that does not give one type of battery recycler a clear competitive advantage.
ReCell Industry Collaboration Meeting:
ARA was invited by the Argonne National Laboratory to give a presentation at this year’s ReCell Industry Collaboration Day. The ReCell Center is a Department of Energy funded research and development center whose purpose is to help enable the United States compete in a global recycling industry and reduce reliance on foreign sources of battery materials. ARA’s presentation focused on progress ARA and its members have made over the past year relating to the acquisition, storage, and handling of EVs and PHEVs. It also highlighted the challenges facing automotive recyclers when acquiring EVs and PHEVs. ARA’s presentation was well received and has created further opportunities to assist the industry in improving its strategic position.
Li-Bridge Meeting
In addition to making a presentation at the ReCell Industry Collaboration Day event, ARA participated in a Li-Bridge meeting that focused on the tracking and tracing of batteries and battery materials. During this meeting, industry came together to share ideas and develop policy. ARA participated in the daylong event and recommended that the following data points be captured and made accessible to entities within the value chain: (1) dismantling information; (2) safety information; (3) chemistry type; (4) composition; (5) state of health data; (6) repair and maintenance. Final takeaways from the meeting will be included within an upcoming white paper developed by Li-Bridge.
EDUCATION New Spanish Resource on ARA University
ARA is excited to announce that a Spanish version of the popular Inventory Specialists and Parts Grading module is now available!
This module includes informative examples and dialogue about how to inventory a vehicle and properly grade collision parts, mechanical parts, wheels, seats, cosmetic parts and more.
Updated by ARA’s Interchange Committee, this is an excellent resource for training your staff on the importance of having consistent grading within the industry and why accurate part descriptions as well as photos are so important.
ADVOCACY ARA Joins the “EVs for Everyone” Podcast
ARA’s Vice President of Strategy, Government and Regulatory Affairs, Emil Nusbaum, recently sat down to talk about automotive recycling and electrification on the EVs for Everyone Podcast. Emil joined Elena Ciccotelli, the Producer and Host of the EVs for Everyone Podcast, and Scott Packard, Director of Business Development & Project Leadership at Smartville Inc., to talk about electric vehicles.
During the podcast, Emil, Scott, and Elena talked about necessary market developments that must materialize if electric vehicles are going to comprise a larger percentage of the passenger vehicle market. This includes the need to reuse, repurpose, and remanufacture batteries by using affordable and accurate testing equipment. Emil also discusses the challenges facing automotive recyclers and pending legislation that may change the way that battery electric vehicles are handled at end-of-first-life and end-of-life.
Listen to the podcast here: https://evs4everyone.com/whats-ev-battery-
recycling-got-to-do-with-it/.
